Sunday, September 27, 2009

It was a special morning because one of the two red roses at the front of the sanctuary was for Monkey. Last week, on his way home from AWANA, he asked Jesus into his heart. Our church honors each person who makes that decision with a red rose. After this picture was taken, the prayer team which was already up front, took a moment to pray for our young son - that he will continue to grow in his faith and will serve God for the rest of his life.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Our new fall schedule is now upon us. We're starting our seventh week of school and all of our activities have now started up. I love fall and have to admit that I am looking forward to "sweatshirt" weather. The only problem is that fall never last very long around here and the icky, white stuff will be flying before we know it! Here's a brief look at our fall so far:

Sunday mornings we attend church together. Last week all of the kids moved up to their new classes. This morning was particularly exciting because about half way through our Sunday School class the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the building. I do have to say that the church's evacuation plan worked very well, and everyone (even the kids) got out in a quick and orderly fashion. Our pastor stood on a bench outside and delivered his sermon while the fire department checked the building. After about half an hour, we were allowed back inside. I was on nursery "duty" during the second service and got to hang out with some of my favorite little people. Later this evening, we will be back at church for the girls' dance practice and to pick up the boys from a youth event.

On Mondays, Seely has two college classes that take up most of his day. Last Monday evening was the first BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) of the year for Lily, Mango, and I. This year we are studying the book of John.

Tuesday evenings we take Lily to therapy. Many children who suffered through traumatic and neglectful beginnings need help dealing with those issues and the underlying anxiety they leave in their wake. It is becoming more clear to us and her therapist that Lily will likely continue to face some processing and developmental issues into her teen years, and possibly even adulthood. Early neglect and trauma are very damaging to the brain in ways no one expects or understands until you live with someone who has been through it.

Wednesday's, we have a standing lunch "date" with friends we've known for about 11 years. In the evenings, the boys head off to church. Seely leads a group of AWANA Cubbies (3&4 year olds). Random has his 8th grade boys small group. They both attend a youth "hang out" time after those activities are over. Monkey is in his first year of AWANA Sparks. Last Wednesday evening, on his way home from church, he asked Jesus to be his Saviour in the drive-thru of a local coffee shop!

On Thursday evenings, Seely has his youth group small group, and for the next 6 weeks, I am taking a class at church that concentrates on teaching Christians how to effectively help others through difficult times and crisis' in their lives. We're studying human personality, crisis and grief, trauma, and a variety of other topics all from a Christian perspective. It is different than what I thought it would be, but I am still enjoying it.

Fridays are co-op day. Rather than doing our regular school work at home (like we do Monday - Thursday), we join up with several other families at our church for classes. The younger half are doing some lapbooking and learning about great Christian heroes throughout history. I have the older half and we are traipsing our way through the Friendly Chemistry course. After class, we serve the church (who lets us use the building for free) by restocking the little holders on the backs of the chairs in the sanctuary - making sure they have envelopes, attendence and prayer request forms, and that the pencils are there and sharp. When all is in order, anyone available has lunch together. It is a great way to end the school week.

Our Saturdays are like most people's, I suppose - catch up on sleep and housework, run errands, visits to see DH's mom who is in an assisted living facility, youth activities, an occassional dance practice, etc. etc. etc.